Celtic are closing in on a bumper £8.5m deal to land Bosnian World Cup star Ermin Mahmic. Hoops chiefs are in talks with Slovan Liberec for the highly-rated 21-year-old having tracked the ace all summer.
Mahmic deal edges closer
German cracks Schalke have also been interested, along with Belgians Club Brugge, Union St-Gilloise and French outfit Toulouse. But Celtic are in pole position to land the midfielder who sparkled in the United States at the World Cup.
Mahmic notched two goals to help fire Bosnia-Herzegovina out of the group stages before being knocked out by hosts USA on the back of an impressive domestic campaign with Czech outfit Liberec. Slovan are resigned to losing their star man after the playmaker returned to the club at the weekend to say his goodbyes – having been left out of recent squads ahead of a move.
But the blow will be softened by securing a club record fee – understood to be around £7m up front plus £1.5m in potential add-ons.
Midfield reinforcements wanted
Hoops boss Martin O’Neill is in the market for midfield reinforcements following the £22m exit of Arne Engels to West Ham and Paulo Bernardo’s loan exit. Celts drafted in Mika Baur from Paderborn in a deal worth up to £6m but are keen to bring in further competition with Reo Hatate expected to exit in the remaining weeks of the window.
Celtic are also determined to resist any interest in red hot Benjamin Nygren after the Swede’s blistering start to the new season. The attacking midfielder has racked up four goals and four assists in the first four games of the campaign – including his sensational opener in Wednesday’s Champions League play-off first leg 3-0 win against LASK.
Celtic are in no mood to cash in and are looking to tool up for the domestic and European campaign. They are looking to get the Mahmic deal over the line in the coming days – although the youngster would not be eligible for the play-off return clash in Austria this week.
More targets on the radar
Mahmic was born in Austria and was on the books at LASK as a kid, before a move to Rapid Vienna and then Lafnitz in the lower leagues. He made the jump to Liberec in the summer of 2025 and sparked to life in the Czech Republic to blast his way into the Bosnia setup, having switched allegiances after being capped at youth level by Austria.
Celts are chasing several options and are close to sealing a loan move for Chelsea left back Landon Emenalo. They are also in the hunt for Blackburn goalkeeper Balazs Toth while remaining in the hunt for versatile Hajduk Split star Niko Sigur.
O’Neill is keen on the Canada ace as he can play midfield as well as right-back – where Alistair Johnston is facing an injury layoff. Celts are sweating on the results of more scans after the fullback suffered a hamstring issue that scuppered his potential exit to Everton. Johnston was initially ruled out until September but there are fears the 27-year-old could be facing at least an extra month on the sidelines, which will force the Hoops to look at transfer options.
